Why Won't Mitt Romney Fire John Sununu for Racist Remarks on Colin Powell?

The sad influence of racism continues to show itself in the presidential campaign. Colin Powell is a true American hero. At one point he had a legitimate to be the President of the United States.  He retired as a 4-star general before accepting a presidential appointment as our nation's Secretary of State. He is a quiet and well-reasoned leader.

None of this matters to former New Hampshire governor John Sununu ... who serves as one of the loudest surrogates for Mitt Romney. Sununu felt the power of his white privilege enough to tell a national television audience that race motivated Colin Powell's endorsement of President Obama.  Sununu discounted all of the qualifications of Colin Powell and theorized that his endorsement of Barack Obama was strictly tribal in nature:

"When you take a look at Colin Powell, you have to look at whether that's an endorsement based on issues or he's got a slightly different reason for endorsing President Obama."

He added: "I think when you have somebody of your own race that you're proud of being president of the United States, I applaud Colin for standing with him."

Powell -- who also backed Obama in 2008 -- made his endorsement of a second term on Thursday, an an appearance on CBS' This Morning.

Powell said that the nation is recovering from the severe recession that Obama inherited.

"I see that we are starting to rise up," Powell said. "I also saw the President get us out of one war, start to get us out of a second war and did not get us into any new wars. And finally, I think that the actions he's taken with respect to protecting us from terrorism have been very, very solid."

It is tiring to continually have to watch the subtle and not-so-subtle use of the race card by Mitt Romney and his minions. They have written off any chance of appealing to voters of color ... and they are doubling down on the idea that it will take a massive turn-out by white folks, primarily white men, for Romney to win the presidency.

Sununu should be asked to step down from his prominent role as a Romney minion. His racially-motivated strategies and words disqualify him. Don't you agree?

For Love of Liberty: Tribute to Black Veterans

I encourage all villagers to see 'For Love of Liberty: The Story of America's Black Patriots'.

This 4-hour film honors Black veterans from the American Revolution to our battle against Global Terrorism. African Americans have risked their lives in defense of this nation in the dual effort to preserve freedom for their country while attempting to acquire it for themselves. Though their long struggle has been painful and heroic, their profound sacrifices and enormous contributions are finally recognized.





I take this moment on Memorial Day to remember my brother, US Navy Captain Charles Hicks and my cousin, Rear Admiral Benjamin Hacker.

Is there a Black veteran that you would like to honor by sharing your village voice on our blog?

Can a Muslim American Become President of the United States?

The first 43 presidents of our country have been white male. The first 4,000 members of the House of Representatives were non-Muslim. To my knowledge, we've only had one practicing Muslim in congress.

So Colin Powell's question caused me to do a double-take. Colin Powell asked, 'Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? ... Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim American kid believing that he or she could be president?' during his endorsement of Barack Obama.

If a 20-year old Muslim American soldier, Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, can die for our country ... it seems we should have no issue with the idea of a Muslim American being our nation's president. Khan died in Iraq and his mother is shown grieving over his headstone in Arlington Cemetery.

If there are aspiring Muslim Americans dreaming about being president ... they should note that it requires hard work. Barack Obama earned his opportunity for the presidency by doing well in school ... doing well in his marriage and as a father ... doing well in his chosen vocation.

Robert Kennedy thought it would take 40 years for a Black man to be president. I think it won't take a long for a woman to be president. Nor would I be surprised if Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) or some other Muslim American were to be a credible national candidate in my lifetime.

63 years in a row, from 1921 thru 1984, we had white women winning the crown as 'Miss America'. That changed in 1984 when we had two Black women holding that title -- Vanessa Williams and Suzette Charles.

The 'Vanessa Williams Effect' got busy at that point. We have had five more women of color crowned as Miss America -- Debbye Turner (1990), Marjorie Vincent (1991), Kimberly Aiken (1994), Angela Baraquio (2001) and Erika Harold (2003).

Perhaps the 'Vanessa Williams Effect' will trump the 'Bradley Effect' as other non-white males strive to become President of the United States.

If so, a small amount of the credit goes to Colin Powell and Kareem Khan.

John McCain Flip-Flops on Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy -- He Now Opposes President, Military Leadership and Colin Powell

In the war over "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the battle lines have been drawn: It's Republicans vs. the military. And John McCain vs. John McCain.

Admiral Mike Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert Gates gave game-changing testimony to Congress last week. They both strongly support President Obama's effort to repeal DADT.




That isn't stopping recalcitrant Republicans like John McCain from flip-flopping on the stance he took in 2006 to follow the lead of our nation's top military brass on DADT.






Here's what John McCain said back in October 2006 on MSNBC's "Hardball":

"I listen to people like General Colin Powell, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and literally every military leader that I know... The day that the leadership of the military comes to me and says, Senator, we ought to change the policy, then I think we ought to consider seriously changing it because those leaders in the military are the ones we give the responsibility to."

Colin Powell -- the man who made DADT possible -- announced his opposition to this discriminatory policy, saying that "attitudes and circumstances have changed."







Again, we see the hypocrisy of John McCain. I remain grateful to the American people for ensuring that McCain/Palin were defeated in the 2008 presidential election. Having those two in the White House would be scary.

Colin Powell Endorses Barack Obama

We asked villagers about possible Colin Powell endorsement back in April. It turns out that Powell waited until today to make that endorsement. His endorsement of Barack Obama should go a long way to attracting moderates and wayward Republicans to the Democratic presidential candidate. [Video]

Over the years, Powell himself has been touted as a potential presidential or vice presidential candidate. The former national security adviser served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. He was secretary of state for the younger President Bush.

His tenure is most notable for presenting to the U.N. Security Council evidence that Iraq was pursuing weapons of mass destruction. His presentation led to a resolution endorsing military action against that country. He later described his role as a "blot" on his record.

It seems difficult to say that Obama doesn't have the experience to serve as our POTUS when people like Warren Buffet and Gen. Powell are endorsing him for the office.

Will Colin Powell Endorse Barack Obama?

It was interesting to read recent Colin Powell interview in which he praises Barack Obama for his speech on race relations. Powell provided advice and counsel to Obama earlier in the campaign. However, retired Gen. Colin Powell insists he hasn't yet decided who he'll back in the 2008 presidential election.

"I'm looking at all three candidates," Powell said in an exclusive interview with Diane Sawyer for Thursday's "Good Morning America" on ABC. "I know them all very, very well. I consider myself a friend of each and every one of them. And I have not decided who I will vote for yet."

Villagers, I like Colin Powell. He phuqued his legacy up bigtime when he carried the water for the Bush administration to the United Nations in the build-up for the Iraq War. He misled and lied to the international community as well as to the American people. It was a shameful act ... and Colin Powell expressed regret for his role in that UN testimony after the fact.

All that being said, I still like Colin Powell. In fact, I remember when he retired from the military and nobody knew whether he was going to participate in politics as a democrat or republican. I hoped he would run for president as a democrat. Do y'all remember those days?

Manic Monday: Rank

Villagers, the Manic Monday word this week is 'RANK'. I've shared information about African Americans in the military before. As such, many of you know that my cousin retired from the US Navy as a rear admiral. Of course, the highest-ranked Black military man that most of us know nowadays is retired General Colin Powell. If things had broken a little different for Colin Powell ... he might have become our President instead of George Bush (sigh).

Anyhow, I thought I would point Villagers to high ranking African American officers in the four branches of the military.

1. Air Force - Lt. General John Hopper was the highest-ranking African American in the US Air Force when he retired in 2005, after a distinguished 35-year military career. His last assignment was Vice Commander, Air Education and Training Command at Randolph AFB, Texas. The command recruits, trains and educates more than 370,000 men and women for the aerospace force and the nation.


2. Army - Colonel Charles Young was the highest ranking African American officer in the army when WW1 started. He was also the first African American to reach that rank in the army. Young thought that he would have a major leadership role in World War I as a result of his military experience and rank, but prejudice and injustice led to him being forced out of of the military on June 22, 1917 under protest.


3. Marines - Maj. General Cornell Wilson will be the highest-ranking African American on active duty in the Marine Corps when he receives his second star. He's now commander of the II Marine Expeditionary Force Augmentation Command Element at Camp Lejeune, NC. Wilson often reflects on the accomplishments of Black marines since the The Montford Point Marines were first established after President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802, which allowed African Americans to be recruited during World War II.


4. Navy - Samuel Lee Gravely, Jr., (1922-2004), was an African American Navy pioneer and a native of Richmond, VA. Gravely built a Navy career that lasted 38 years and included many distinguished accomplishments. He became the first African American to command a U.S. Navy warship (Theodore E. Chandler), the first African American to command an American warship under combat conditions (Taussig), the first African American to command a major naval warship (Jouett), the first African American admiral, the first African American to rise to the rank of Vice Admiral, and the first African American to command a U.S. Fleet (Commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet). The USS Gravely (DDG-107) has been named in his honor. A street on the east side of Richmond, VA is also named in his honor.

Anyhow, these are the thoughts that ran through my mind as I pondered the word RANK. I hope you have enjoyed my Manic Monday effort this week.

President Bush, Why Are We in Iraq?

President Bush, didn't you tell us already that we won this war? 'Mission accomplished', you said on that battleship. Why are we still in this dayum war if the mission was accomplished? Did you lie to us again?

Villagers, did you see that our commander-in-chief feels that 'we are kicking ass' in Iraq. Does anyone else think that our commander-in-chief is unable to give an honest assessment of this war on terror?

I have not used this blog to talk about the war in Iraq very much. I don't have any immediate relatives in the military. As such, my engagement in this war is at a different level than many others. However, I must say that the commander-in-chief has truly phuqed this war up in my view. He lied to us when he and his team, including Colin and Condi, told us that mushroom clouds would flow if US troops didn't invade Iraq. Of course, there were no WMDs. Just another bald-faced lie from our commander-in-chief.

We get into this thing and run through the Iraqi army; capture Saddam in a ditch; and have him executed. The Iraqis are cheering. Statues are tumbling. That is when we should have left the country. That would have been 'mission accomplished'. That would have been a proud legacy for W and his cronies.

But, our commander-in-chief couldn't leave well enough alone. Instead he allowed Cheney, Halliburton and other corporate interests to blind him to the obvious. Now, our country is in the middle of a civil war with no winning end game. Bush told us on national television in January,

"So I've committed more than 20,000 additional American troops to Iraq. The vast majority of them -- five brigades -- will be deployed to Baghdad. These troops will work alongside Iraqi units and be embedded in their formations. Our troops will have a well-defined mission: to help Iraqis clear and secure neighborhoods, to help them protect the local population, and to help ensure that the Iraqi forces left behind are capable of providing the security that Baghdad needs."

Almost 4,000 Americans have been killed. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been killed. The 2006 elections in November 2006 clearly called for the end of Bush's war. Bush told us in January that he wanted this surge. In June, Bush said he wanted everyone to be patient until a military report could be issued in September 2007. Now we are told that we need to wait until next summer.

Today, we had the top U.S. general in Iraq, David Petraeus, sharing his plans for withdrawal of 30,000 troops by next summer, drawing praise from the White House but a chilly reception from anti-war Democrats. Gen. David Petraeus said a 2,000-member Marine unit would return home this month without replacement in the first sizable cut since a 2003 U.S-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein and unleashed sectarian violence.

Villagers, I am still trying to figure out why we insist on staying in Iraq. We have over 169,000 troops in that country right now. Why? Five years from now the country will be run by our enemy ... not the current democratically-elected government. Everyone seems to agree that the current Iraq prime minister is not strong enough to survive as anything more than Bush's puppet ... propped up by 169k American troops. Can any villager tell me why we are still in this unnecessary war?

Why??

Anyhow, villagers, I can tell you what victory in Iraq looks like. It is photos with children walking down the street going to school. It is photos with businesses selling groceries, gasoline and other basic necessities of life. It is photos without bombed out cars on every block and children running around with rifles.

Victory in this war on terror is even simpler. I will know we are winning the war on terror when Osama bin Laden is doing a perp-walk into a jail cell.

Our commander-in-chief is simply an embarrassment. I can hardly wait until Obama or Clinton or Edwards can get into the White House to bring honor back to our nation.

Villagers, how about you? What are your thoughts on the General Padreus report given today? What is your thoughts on our commander-in-chief?

Colin Powell & Barack Obama

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell was on the NBC show, "Meet the Press" earlier yesterday. He indicated that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama sought advice on foreign policy matters. Powell said he has met twice with Obama, the Illinois senator.

"I've been around this town a long time and I know everybody who is running for office. And I make myself available to talk about foreign policy matters and military matters with whoever wishes to chat with me," Powell said.

One of the most disappointing moments in American political history was when Powell announced that he was a Republican. I remember hoping that he would run for the presidency as a Democratic candidate after he left office as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under the first President Bush. So, I was encouraged today when Powell said it was too early in the 2008 race to say whether he would back a GOP nominee.

"I'm going to support the best person that I can find who will lead this country for the eight years beginning in January of 2009," Powell said.

Powell was secretary of state under President Bush and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman for the first President Bush.

Powell said he does not want to serve in elected office but was less certain about a return to some government post. "I would not rule it out. I am not at all interested in political life if you mean elected political life. That is unchanged. But I always keep my eyes open and my ears open to requests for service," he said.

How great would it be to see Powell serving in the first Obama administration?! Colin Powell would give instant foriegn policy credibility to Barack Obama. It would bring together two of the most recognizable politicians of African descent in the nation. Villagers, what do you think about the idea of Colin Powell endorsing Barack Obama for the presidency?